Plans are made to be broken..by Sheila Claydon

At the moment the world is on tenterhooks because of the Coronavirus. Of all my books this is the only one where an unexpected illness strikes. Why? Well probably because nobody likes to think about illness unless they have to.

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As Woody Allan once said:  If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans. Not that any of my plans were desperate or that important in the scheme of things, but I was due to be cruising around Japan at the end of March on the very ship that is now quarantined in the port at Yokohama as more and more members of its crew and passengers contract the Coronavirus. 

On top of that, the British citizens who were flown out of Wuhan, the centre of the epidemic, have been quarantined in hospital property only 12 miles away from where I live. 

And then, of course, there is my daughter-in-law, who is Chinese. She and my little Eurasian granddaughter spent the Chinese New Year in China with family and friends. My son, who had to work, stayed at home in Hong Kong, which was just as well as he has been their only contact with the outside world for the past 14 days. Although they were very far away from the epicentre of the Coronavirus they were still required to self-quarantine when they returned home,  and my daughter-in-law has only today been allowed to return to work.

My granddaughter is still at home because her school has been closed since Christmas and will not reopen until 4 March at the earliest. Also most of her friends have either left Hong Kong for a perceived safety with family elsewhere, or have not returned from the Christmas holidays they were celebrating somewhere else in the world, so with no school and few friends to play with, it is fortunate that she loves to draw, write, make things, help cook, and also do the homework she receives every week by email.

From a different perspective, however, some of what is happening is very interesting. My son, who works in change management in businesses in Hong Kong, is having to adapt his own work practice whilst also helping other people to cope with working from home. Culturally, home working is not the norm in Hong Kong and this, together with the very limited size of its family apartments, means that the forced confinement is having a deep psychological effect on many people.  Apartments in Hong Kong are on average the smallest in the world (484 sq ft). Many of these are homes to more than three people. As a comparison, the average one-bed flat size in Manhattan, New York, is 716 sq ft while in London it is 550 sq ft. Because I regularly help edit his various presentations and papers, it means I am able to be part of the whole thinking around the effects of Coronavirus on business around the world...not something I would have chosen given how it is affecting and frightening so many people, but interesting nevertheless.

So here I am, living in a coastal village in the North West of England, miles away from any major centre, in a place of clean beaches and fresh, unpolluted air, and yet, because of globalisation, I am still caught up in the world-wide effects of the Coronavirus. It is a strange, strange world.

Now all I have to do is to send the medical face masks I've managed to buy in the UK over to my family in Hong Kong because there the shops have sold out altogether, and without a mask nobody goes out! In usual circumstances China makes 20 million face masks a day and Chinese people use them regularly both as a protection against traffic pollution and when they have a cold or cough which they don't want to pass onto other people. Now, however, production has fallen and people are panic buying. Fortunately we still have plenty in the UK where wearing them is not the norm at all. Who is to say when that will change, however. In the meantime we can spare some where they are needed most.

In my son's words at the end of his recent advisory leaflet to Hong Kong employees working from home for the first time: until it's over and we can all relax, work well and stay healthy.

Christmases Past by Sheila Claydon

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Everyone is writing about Christmas so I will too but not about this one. Instead I'm remembering Christmases past.

There was the one in Denmark where we drank Julebryg, a special Christmas beer for the festive season. It is released at exactly 8.59 pm on the first Friday of November by the 140 Tuborg Brewery and it fuels most holiday festivities for the next six weeks. And then it's gone. It's a strong, dark pilsner (5.6 percent alcohol by volume which takes the unwary foreigner by surprise)  and J-Day, as it is known, is far and away the biggest day of the year for Tuborg. Danes  pack the bars and spill into the streets where they  sing and dance and wear silly hats provided free by the brewery, all for the chance to get a first taste and welcome the start of the festive season by raising their glasses with a hearty 'Skål!'

And Skål was indeed our most used word that Christmas. Although our hosts were family friends, not all of them spoke much English, so because our Danish is very limited, everyone shouted Skål and  raised a glass whenever they ran out of words. It wasn't just beer either. There was plenty of wine later in the day,  and schnapps was always available, even at breakfast, because this was a farming family, used to coming in cold from tending the animals and drinking a warming shot of schnapps while they refuelled. The breakfast food was very different from what we were used to, too.  Curried herrings  on  dark rye bread, or thick slices of sausage and meatballs, all served as a smørrebrød (open sandwich). Then there was Christmas lunch. This was goose with creamed cabbage and potatoes followed by  risalamande, which is a rice pudding with vanilla, almonds and whipped cream served with warm cherry sauce. The risalamande contained a lucky silver charm so we all had to be very careful about what we swallowed and bit into until someone found it. Gifts were exchanged on Christmas Eve, just before a midnight service at the local Lutheran church where the priest, in his starched white ruff and 3-peaked hat was just a little scary, although not as scary as the real candles that burned all night on the real Christmas tree in a farmhouse with a thatched straw roof. I don't think my husband, who is a health and safety expert, slept a wink. It was, however, a wonderful Christmas.

Then there were the two we spent in Australia, where, after a token Christmas lunch at the request of our son who misses his English Christmases, it was beach trips and B-B-Q's all the way with huge, succulent prawns, whole salmon and thick wagu steak, washed down with some of the fine wines from Australia's famous Hunter Valley and of course the inevitable stubbie (bottle of beer) or tinny (can of beer). Australians are amongst the friendliest people in the world when they've had a drink or two so there were many parties as well, but whenever glasses were raised it was still with  a very English 'Cheers' despite the many language differences between our nations. The difference is that Australians also use 'Cheers' for a great many other things, often with the word mate added. It's used as a 'thank you', or a 'well done' or maybe just 'I heard you' or 'I agree with you'.  Of course after a week of sun, sea and surf and a lot of celebrating the climax to an Australian Christmas is always the firework display on Sydney Harbour Bridge, and we are lucky enough to have friends who live directly opposite...so what's not to like.

Our strangest Christmas by far was in China though. In a country where the 4000 year old tradition of the Chinese New Year (otherwise known as the Spring Festival) is by far the most important calendar event, as well as being the longest holiday of the year, Christmas is nevertheless celebrated by its more cosmopolitan inhabitants. While it is not a religious festival nor a public holiday many Chinese  still consider it a time for celebration when, particularly the younger generation, shop, party and feast. In the cities many of the shops are decorated and there are Christmas grottos where Shen Dan Lao Ren (Santa Claus) greets the children and hands out gifts. The food is very different of course and rarely served at home. Instead, most Chinese people who celebrate Christmas see it as a happy occasion for get-togethers of friends and relatives. Christmas parties might be  at a friend's house, but equally they might be at a McDonald's, a karaoke cafe, a restaurant, or a bar. There is a festive atmosphere, and people enjoy the decorations and the Christmas music. Having said that, with a son who craves a traditional Christmas meal if at all possible, I did receive my biggest challenge in China as you can see from the photo below! I got there though despite being used to a ready prepared turkey, and we then ate out for the rest of the holiday. These celebratory meals took place mostly at huge round tables where we were surrounded by smiling Chinese friends whose own version of Cheers is 干杯 Gānbēi, a word they used a great deal as wine and spirits flowed copiously, and we ate an amazing variety of food, none of which we could name as our Mandarin is next to non existent so we had to rely on our Chinese host to order for us.

So thanks to a globe trotting son, my husband and I can celebrate Christmas in several languages even if our only skill is to say the equivalent of Cheers as we raise a festive glass.

Somewhere a bit different...by Sheila Claydon

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In my last blog I was just about to set off to spend Christmas in Hong Kong. It was, as always, wonderful to catch up with family and friends, especially our 4 year old granddaughter, and Christmas Day was much enjoyed by all. Then, a few days later, the whole family made a trip to Schenzen in southeastern China. This is the modern metropolis that links Hong Kong to the Chinese mainland.

Schenzen is one of the country's special economic zones, which means it is allowed more free market-oriented economic policies and flexible governmental measures compared to the more planned economy of most of China. Consequently its tax and business incentives make it attractive to both foreign and domestic investors and this has made it a very successful city. Westerners can apply for a 5 day visa at the border although this does not entitle them to visit any other part of China.

What can I say about Schenzen other than wow! It's growing economy, mainly in the technological industry, has led to it being dubbed China's Silicon Valley, and it really is the most amazing place. With an estimated population of over 20 million, mainly young, inhabitants, it is vibrant and forward looking. It is also spotlessly clean despite its many fast food outlets. The streets, beautifully manicured parks, and huge, modern shopping malls are all pristine, as is the Schenzen metro, which is vast and growing but so easy to use thanks to its technologically friendly maps.  More important than any of this though, is the friendliness of its people. On crowded trains, as older visitors, we were greeted with smiles and instantly offered seats. We were also entitled to travel everywhere for free as are all its own older citizens. All we had to do was show our passport or driver's licence to be nodded through the barrier, again with a smile.

And there were so many things to do. In one shopping mall, for instance, was a Virtual Reality (VR) station where anyone could try their hand at activities as far apart as Formula One driving or skiing down vertiginous mountain passes, or, if they wanted something more calming, they could take a trip to the stars, visiting planets and staring back at the earth through a virtual reality window. There were so many VR options it would have taken days to experience them all. Then there were the slightly larger than usual child-sized electric cars that tiny drivers (or more usually their parents with children as passengers) could drive around the malls, waving and smiling as fond family members looked on. I was even persuaded to take my little granddaughter on one of these 5 minute trips and quickly learned to weave in and out of the strolling shoppers despite nervously anticipating a traffic snarl up that never happened.  Then there was the lake with its huge stationary ship that doubled as a bar and restaurant where we watched fireworks from beneath the warmth of outdoor heaters because it was cold by then.  

Everywhere we went people were enjoying themselves. Family groups, young people holding hands, parents, grandparents, the whole place seemed to be full of laughter and enjoyment.There was the ball pool for small children that was bigger than any I have ever seen before, big enough for the parents who wanted to revert to their childhood too. And a wonderful Sea World. And skating. And jogging. And themed exhibitions, both cultural and modern. And interactive museums. We didn't have anywhere near enough time to visit everything, nor was the weather conducive as it was (to us a very mild) winter, so we missed the wonderful beaches and the botanical gardens that integrate serious research with tourism, and we gave the technological area a miss too, and the theme parks in Happy Valley, because by then our brains and senses were full. 

While we were there Chinese friends also invited us to join them for two memorable meals, allowing us to see behind the scenes sufficiently to experience how the locals live. Because we have a Chinese daughter-in-law we have become reasonably adept with chopsticks, something that is really an essential for anyone wishing to enjoy Chinese food at its best. Reaching forward to take a carefully prepared portion from the myriad dishes that keep on coming is the only way to truly understand the Chinese love of food and their even greater enjoyment when they see a guest eating well.

This wasn't our first visit to China. In the past we have visited several other major cities as well as heritage sites ,and have also climbed a portion of the Great Wall, but when we did this, enjoyable as it all was, we knew we were in another culture. In Schenzen, with its oh so young population, it didn't feel like that at all. It is a place that has taken the best of the West and the East and merged them into a city of the future where, certainly to all outward appearances, everything works smoothly and efficiently. It both amazed and fascinated us in equal measure. It also made us realise, all over again, as does every trip we take to another country, that people are the same the world over even if they do things a little differently sometimes.

I haven't written a story based in China yet, although the day might come, but in a number of my books the characters have to learn to live in another culture. Reluctant Date is just one of them but in this case, Clare, the English heroine, has to learn to live in a small town in Florida. That might not seem such a steep learning curve as moving to China, but learning to live anywhere different needs adjustment until the day, without realising quite how it happened, it becomes home.